The Measure of Humanity
by Gear Ogre
Summary: A young Yusei found a crying Aki in the streets of Satellite. He took her in and became her savior, the only one in this rotten world who accepted her despite her powers, someone who wanted to be her friend. AU, Yusei/Aki


I really, really don't think I should have posted this right now, but I wanted to at least have something up. I should have gone back through the early episodes and done some research, but I don't have time for that right now.

Yeah it's the usual "Aki wanders off to Satellite and Yusei finds her." Yeah, whatever, I don't care.

* * *

Yusei Fudo walked through the dark streets of Satellite, carrying a plastic bag full of parts back to his hideout. It was dangerous to wander around at night, but the sixteen-year old man knew how to handle himself. He had found a few parts he believed he could use for the new D-Wheel he was constructing, after the first one he built had been stolen, along with his Stardust Dragon card, by his former friend Jack Atlas. Though an important card and vehicle had been stolen from him, he found he couldn't resent Jack as much as he should; he still considered him a friend. He wondered if Crow had found anything for the D-Wheel he was building, he had said something about a "special feature" he was going to install in it when he was done, and wondered what his friend was cooking up.

His nostalgic thoughts stopped as he heard a noise, almost like crying. Actually, it _was_ crying, he decided, coming from the alleyway. He decided he should see what was wrong, maybe someone needed help, and he wasn't exactly the kind of person to leave someone in pain.

As he started down the alley, placing the bag he was carrying down in a safe spot, he called out, "Hey! Are you alright?"

A female voice yelled hoarsely, "Don't come any closer!"

"Why not? Are you hurt?" he didn't stop, but kept moving forward. He heard what sounded like a card being played on a duel disk and suddenly, a vine appeared from where the crying came from and smacked him, sending him to the ground.

"I said don't come any closer!" the girl said, weakly.

He was right, she really was hurting. He suspected it had to do with the vine he had been hit with, and as he stood up and continued his path forward, his suspicion was confirmed: a duel monster was standing in front of a red-headed girl crouched against the dead end, duel disk on her arm. The only thing that could have caused the vine was that monster, which looked like a gigantic rose standing protectively in front of her. He couldn't imagine what hardship she had to endure if her dueling actually hurt people and she couldn't control it like he also suspected.

"Why aren't you stopping!? Why aren't you afraid!?" she cried out, the creature she had summoned attacking again. He braced for the impact but it didn't hurt as bad or send him to the ground this time, surprisingly. As he got closer, he saw her tears running freely down her face and she looked absolutely exhausted. When he stopped in front of her, she said, barely above a whisper, "…Why aren't you calling me a monster?"

"You're not a monster, are you?" Yusei asked, "You don't look like a monster to me."

"You say that even though I used my powers on you…," she said quietly, the monster she attacked him with fading away as she returned it to her deck.

"You didn't ask for them, did you?" he said softly, "If you didn't want those powers, it's no fault of yours. Someone who could cry like you are right now could never be a monster."

He reached out and wiped her tears. She looked up at him as if he was the first person to ever show her compassion. She almost forced out a smile, before falling unconscious, him catching her before she fell.

She must have been through Hell, Yusei thought as he picked her up and started to carry her to his hideout. She didn't look like she was from Satellite, so how did she manage to get here all the way from Neo Domino City? He would have to ask her when she woke up. He decided against trying to carry both the bag and the girl back; he couldn't carry both and a human life was far more important than parts.

As he entered the small place he called home, he laid her down on the single sleeping bag laid out on the floor of what was more of a shack than a place to live. It wasn't much, but at least she was safe here. He rummaged around and managed to find his spare sleeping bag and laid it beside her. Soon, he fell asleep, hoping she would be okay tomorrow.

* * *

742 words. Next chapters will be longer, I promise; I just wanted this out so I had motivation to keep going. Tear it apart or praise it as you wish. Next update might be on Thursday, but don't hold me to that. Next chapter will probably show how Aki got here in Satellite; trust me, you can probably figure it out, it's not going to be a tweest or anything.

I also want to mention that I suck at writing duels. Well, I can write them, just not make them interesting. If anyone has any pointers on how to write duels well, drop me a PM. Much appreciated.


End file.
